In a private conversation, Democrats weigh the “comatose or dead” Biden and alternatives

Leading Democratic advisers debated before an audience of major Democratic donors on Wednesday whether they could push Joe Biden out of the presidential race – and whether Vice President Kamala Harris would be worse than a “comatose” or “dead” Biden.

“Seventy-two percent of people want something different. Why don’t you give it to them?” asked former Bill Clinton adviser James Carville on a conference call for dozens of donors to the Democratic superPAC American Bridge, a major source of opposition research and paid campaigns against Donald Trump. “They’re just asking for a different election.”

Carville advised donors who want to knock Biden out of the race to stop giving money to politicians who are not on their side.

“I would say if we don’t do something about it, I’m going to block you on my phone,” he said in the phone call, a report of which was passed on to Semafor by a donor.

Tuesday’s hour-long conference call offered a glimpse into the panic among Democratic donors as a parade of wealthy Democrats – some calling out to each other from vacation, one joking about skiing in the Southern Hemisphere – took turns asking Carville, Paul Begala and Reid Hoffman adviser Dmitri Mehlhorn how they could oust Biden from office.

“What can we do as donors to encourage change on the ballot?” asked one donor, summing up the tone of the call. “Keeping President Biden at the top of this ballot gives people an excuse to vote for Donald Trump,” said another. “If you wake Joe Biden up at three in the morning and ask him who’s president, is he right?” a third fumed.

Carville offered advice to Democrats on how to push Biden out of the race, and Begala remained neutral on the issue. But Biden had an advocate. Mehlhorn, whose main backer, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, is a staunch supporter of supporting the president, argued that Biden should stay in the race – albeit in the darkest terms.

Swing voters, he said, already thought Biden was weak – but they liked Vice President Kamala Harris even less.

“Kamala Harris is more threatening to these swing voters than a dead or comatose Joe Biden,” he said. “So if Joe has to go, it will be Kamala, and if it is Kamala, it will be more difficult.”